Debt Cancellation for Haiti: No Reason for Further Delays

December 2007, Mark Weisbrot and Luis Sandoval

This paper presents an overview of Haiti’s outstanding foreign debt, and how much of this debt is scheduled to be canceled under Haiti’s participation in the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank’s Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative. The paper examines how soon Haiti may complete the HIPC process, and compares the benefits of debt cancellation for Haiti under HIPC versus expedited cancellation, in addition to, or outside of, the HIPC initiative. It argues that there is little reason to believe that the conditions set by the IMF and World Bank for further debt cancellation are likely to benefit Haiti.